AT&T’s WarnerMedia to launch new streaming service in late 2019

AT&T and its Warner Media division announced Wednesday it is preparing to launch a subscription video service by the end of next year that will offer movies and TV shows in direct competition with Netflix, Amazon, and Disney’s forthcoming streaming service.

The announcement of the service delivers on a promise AT&T made in June after shareholders approved the telecom company’s $85 billion purchase of Time Warner. AT&T now has a vast media and entertainment portfolio that includes HBO, CNN, Cartoon Network, the rights to major sports leagues and valuable film franchises. That purchase has put great pressure on AT&T to create more money-making services to sell directly to consumers.

”When we first discussed the benefits of combining WarnerMedia with AT&T, we saw the ability to create new consumer choices centered on unmatched options, value, quality, and experiences,” John Stankey, WarnerMedia Chief Executive, wrote in amemo to employees obtained by Reuters.

AT&T’s streaming service will include the WarnerMedia collection of films, television series, animation, documentaries, and more from many of the networks it now owns including HBO, Turner and Warner Bros.

Franchises that could be part of the service include Warner Bros. movies like the Harry Potter franchise, Wonder Woman, and TV shows like ER, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, and Game of Thrones.

WarnerMedia would have to bid to regain control of many of these shows that are currently syndicated on what will soon become competing services like CBS All Access, Hulu and Netflix. A company executive today estimated that a quarter of the WarnerMedia library licensed to other streaming services comes up for renewal every year.

The company has also not yet set a price, name for the new service or specifics of how it would be distributed, such as on devices like Apple TV.

Industry experts expect Warner Media would bundle it with other services such as HBO and possibly newer services such as DC Universe, a service for comic book and animated series fans unveiled in July.

About the Author

Brad Gibson Brad is co-founder and editor-in-chief of BESTAppleTV.com. He has been a technology reporter since the late 1980s having previously worked for MacUser, MacFormat, and iCreate magazines, as well as MacNN.com, MacObserver.com, MacCentral.com, MacMinute.com, and Macworld.com. He hosted and produced the MacFormat This Week podcast for three years. He was also a reporter, editor, and producer for the Associated Press and United Press International.